A MAP of the area, a heraldic shield bearing emblems of Cheshire’s heritage, or an abstract symbol – what do you think would best represent the new Cheshire East authority?

That’s the question being posed by a new consultation process which is enlisting the public’s help in designing a logo for the council.

The design work has just started and public consultation will set the council back £4,000, but a spokesman said the budget for rolling out the brand was, as yet, a mystery.

This comes in the wake of controversy over the re-branding for Oldham Council, who spent £100,000 and hired an expert marketing team to come up with the simple turquoise and white circle design.

A council spokesman said that the £4,000 for public consultation will be spent on citizens panel meetings, to publish the brand for feedback, and events to reach as many residents as possible.

He added: "We can only comment on the cost of the design’s implementation when the design is finalised and then estimates can be made and scrutinised by the councillors.

"It all depends on the colour of the branding, and how easily it can be used.

"There are a lot of things left unanswered with the reorganisation of the council."

The newly-elected shadow council will decide on branding to represent Cheshire East – and council officers say getting it right is of utmost importance.

MBC’s community officer Mark Wheelton said: "We need a new look and feel for the new authority because it combines four different councils.

"The brand should be distinct and move away from the way that individual councils looked before they became Cheshire East.

"We need to decide on the logo before we can know how much it will cost to display it on things like buildings, schools, vans and headed paper."

Design brief development has already begun, and eventually ideas will be put to the public for feedback before councillors pick their champion. It will then be tweaked by professional designers.

The working group in charge of the project said the brand is important because it affects the public perception of the credibility, creativity and professionalism of the new council.

Trevor Nunn, who lives in Cheshire and runs a Local Government Ombudsman Watcher blog at www.lgowatcher.blogspot.com, said: "Unfortunately, Cheshire East has no option but to re-brand because everything they initially own will come from either one of the borough councils or their share of Cheshire County Councils assets. It’s more a question of how the new council manage the re-branding exercise.

"Will they follow the lead of councils like Oldham and waste vast sums of tax payers’ money on outside consultants to come up with a logo that looks like a polo mint?"

Click on 'View gallery' to see some of the logo designs suggested so far ...